James Edward Bristlefur is having a very bad time. Raised in London by a British secret agent, this international cat of mystery has traveled the world, foiled conspiracies thicker than cream, and rooted out evildoers wherever he and his human found them. But when he tries to follow the trail of a mysterious assassin to Norway, things go horribly, horribly wrong.
To James's shock, a baggage mix-up delivers him to an animal shelter . . . in New Jersey! Even worse, an ordinary suburban boy takes him home and names him Mr. Stink. Oh, the humiliation! At first his only goal is to escape and return to the world of top-secret intrigue. But soon he finds that the long paw of evil reaches all the way to America. As every spy knows, things are rarely what they seem . . .